A pioneering charity has launched a new initiative in the face of the credit crunch, to take loans from people who need a decent return on their income, and invest their money to help those in the developing world.

Opportunity International, the world's largest Christian microfinance organization, has announced the launch of OptINnow, a new initiative in the fight against global poverty. Based in the US, OptINnow connects people who want to make a difference with the working poor around the world who need small business loans to lift themselves out of poverty.

Before switching your car insurance you can now search a range of providers quickly and easily online for ethical and carbon neutral car insurance - saving money and the planet at the same time. The innovative eco car insurance is available through The Green Insurance Company which enables you to offest you carbon emissions.

Religious organisations already have a major stake in the global economy and can now shift decisively towards using their resources for ethical purposes and to redistribute wealth to the poor, a major group of faith investors says.

Credit cards offering to donate small percentages of money to charity are becoming more and more popular with ethical shoppers, but recent research has revealed that some credit card providers are proving to be less generous than others. Those considering changing to a charity credit card are urged to use a site like uswitch to compare the terms and conditions of the charity credit cards on offer. Click here to find out more and change your credit card quickly and easily